Hermannsburg is an Aboriginal community in the Northern Territory of
Australia. It is known in the local Western Arrernte language as Ntaria.

Ntaria is situated in one of the most picturesque areas of Central
Australia, comprising of braod expanse of Missionary Plain running
east-west with its northern and southren boundaries embracing the
MacDonnell and Krichauff Ranges. The plain is covered by thinn
wooded grassland and includes the dramatic crater formation of Gosse
Bluff. The Finke River and Ellery Creek are the main watercourses
passing through the district and the main roads are Larapinta Drive,
Namatjira Luritja Road, Ernest Giles Road and the Mereenie Loop Road.

Hermannsburg is associated with a number of people of importance to
the history of the Northern Territory. Carl Strehlow and his son T.G.H.
Strehlow undertook the detailed recording of the Aranda language and
culture. The high esteem in which they were held by the
Aranda made it possible for them to produce records that
still provide baseline documentation for ethnographic research.
Hermannsburg was also the home of Albert Namatjira, one of
Australia’s most famous landscape artists. Namatjira met
artist Rex Battarbee in 1934 and the result was a series of paintings
in Central Australia which evoked the beauty of the region and
contributed to interstate interest in the region.

The community is equipped with a Women's Cultural Centre, two
Supermarkets, Post Office, Bank Agency, Takeaway Food, Finke River
Mission Store, Service Station, Mechanical workshops and Church.

Nearby attractions: Palm Valley National Park, Ellery Big Hole and
Boggy Hole are ideal for picnics, barbeques and swimming. The
Finke Gorge, West MacDonnell Ranges and the Watarrka National Park
attract a large number of tourists to the districts with the peak
between April and October. The Kings Canyon Resort has a motel, camping
and restaurant facilities.

Albert Namatjira's House

Located approximately 5km west of Hermannsberg Community. It is a
two-roomed cottage, constructed of hand-cut
local sandstone bricks with a corrugated galvanised iron
roof. Albert built this house for his wife and the house features a
fireplace and chimney – which is located at the eastern end of
the structure. The interior and exterior walls have been rendered and
on the northern side of the structure, concrete footings of incomplete
rooms to the house remain. There is also rock edging to a path leading
to a gate. There is a sign out on the road pointing up
the driveway and there is another house nearby with a few sheds around
it.

The house was lived in by Namatjira and his family for only five
years until one of their children died and so with their custom, moved
out of the house and lived somewhere in Palm Valley. Relatives
have cared for the house over many years since and following renovation
in 1971 and conservation work in 1986, it was used as a small museum
and craft outlet.

Hermannsburg was established as an Aboriginal mission in 1877 at the
forefront of pastoral expansion in Central Australia. The last of
the missions of the German Hermannsburg Missionary Society, it was
established due to the influence of the German settler community in
South Australia. Lasting from 1877 - 1982, it is one of the
longest serving denominational missions in Australia. It was founded
by two Lutheran missionaries from Germany who had travelled
overland from Bethany in the Barossa Valley in South Australia. They
named their new mission after Hermannsburg in Germany where they had
trained. In 1891, the missionaries left, but the settlement was
continued by lay workers until, in 1894, Pastor Carl Strehlow arrived.
His son T.G.H. Strehlow became a noted anthropologist and was initiated
into Arrernte customs.

Pastor Strehlow learnt the local Western Arrernte language and is
credited with translating the Bible into the language. As Strehlow was
of German descent, the Western Arrernte written form followed his
German pronunciation—which is why the letter/sound relationships
make the language easy to read and pronounce for English
speakers/readers. Subsequently the mission achieved a number of
historic firsts.

In 1925 Strehlow's succesor, Pastor F.W. Albrecht whose daughter
Helene Burns was brought up on the mission and still speaks fluent
Aranda, began a program which encouraged the local people to develop
skills and trades. This led to the establishment of the tannery
in 1936. In 1930 Hermannsburg became the first outpost int he
Northern Territory to use a pedal wireless.

Albert Namatjira was born at Hermannsburg in 1902. He developed the
ability to use his acute observation of the land to paint Western-style
watercolours. Painting in this style came to be known as the
Hermannsburg School of painting.

The mission land was handed over to traditional ownership in 1982.
The Hermannsburg Historic Precinct was included on the Australian
National Heritage List in April 2006. Much of the historic township is
now protected by the National Trust.